(male) One of the many French names of Germanic origin that were introduced into Britain by the Normans; it has since remained in continuous use. It is derived from the nearly synonymous elements hrōd ‘fame’ + berht ‘bright, famous’, and had a native Old English predecessor of similar form (Hreodbeorht), which was supplanted by the Norman name. Two dukes of Normandy in the 11th century bore the name: the father of William the Conqueror (sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil), and his eldest son. It was borne also by three kings of Scotland, notably Robert the Bruce (1274–1329), who freed Scotland from English domination. The altered short form Bob is very common, but Hob and Dob, which were common in the Middle Ages and gave rise to surnames, are extinct. See also Rupert.
Short forms: Bob, Rob.
Pet forms: Bobby, Robbie, Robin.
Cognates: Irish: Roibéard. Scottish Gaelic: Raibeart. German: Robert, Rupprecht. Dutch: Robrecht, Rob(b)ert. Scandinavian: Robert. French: Robert. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian: Roberto. Czech: Robert. Finnish: Roopertti. Hungarian: Róbert. Latvian: Roberts.
English: nickname from Middle English ca ‘jackdaw’, from an unattested Old Norse ká. See also Daw.
English: nickname from Middle English cai, kay, kei ‘left-handed’, ‘clumsy’.
English: metonymic occupational name for a locksmith, from Middle English keye, kaye ‘key’. Compare Care, Kear.
English: topographic name for someone living on or near a quay, Middle English kay(e), Old French cay.
English: from a Middle English personal name which figures in Arthurian legend. It is found in Old Welsh as Cai, Middle Welsh Kei, and is ultimately from the Latin personal name Gaius.
Scottish and Irish: reduced form of McKay.
French: variant of Quay, cognate with 2.
Much shortened form of any of various names, mostly Eastern European, beginning with the letter K-.
Variant of Danish and Frisian Kai.
